Bentley Bentayga Speed Confirmed, Should Launch In 2019

Bentley‘s first-ever SUV, the Bentayga, arrived almost three years ago and quickly became a commercial success.

While it was initially offered solely with a W12 petrol engine, the lineup was eventually extended and now includes a petrol V8, a diesel V8 and a V6 plug-in hybrid.

In spite of being an SUV, Crewe intends to give the Bentayga the Speed treatment. Confirmed to Autocar by the company’s design chief, Stefan Sielaff, after hinted back in 2016, the Bentayga Speed’s design will represent a “big change”.

Bentley’s exec didn’t delve into specifics, but, as the British mag states, it will feature “more power for the W12 engine” (kinda stating the obvious, but anyhow). The twin-turbo 6.0-liter W12 unit currently puts out 608PS (600hp / 447kW) and 900Nm (663lb-ft) of torque, so a Lamborghini Urus-matching 650PS (641hp) seems entirely plausible.

The bump in power will allow the Bentley Bentayga Speed to be faster to 100km/h (62mph) than the current W12, which takes 4.1sec, and top speed will probably increase from the latter’s 301km/h (187mph). Responsible for channeling the output to all four corners will, in all likelihood, be the same ZF-developed eight-speed automatic transmission, possibly with an updated software.

Given that the car marque launched the plug-in hybrid and V8 gasoline derivatives of the Bentayga earlier this year, the Speed version should arrive sometime in 2019.

Exactly, I’d much prefer to see a major facelift than introducing more variants. Like the new Rolls 4×4, this car needs a visual rethink and fast, rather than a warmed over London taxis with big wheels.